Yes it is a muzzleloader , the barrel was made by the gun works muzzleloading emporium. It's a solid chunk of steel, found a guy on Craigslist to mill the notch out in the back, The action is from a demilled shotgun reciever. The barrel will simple bolt on, the only pressure on the reciever and bolts will be from the enormous recoil , as far is weight, hopefully heavy. Now how the gun fires is a completely new action design, simple trigger and hammer, it's where the 209 primer will go that makes it unique, can't wait to shoot 1/2 pound of birdshot out of it